| Show WITH brigham YOUNG cedar CITY april 30 1877 ha havin g becele ee 1 I desalt df Salt balt lake laue on the ansta in sta a telegram from brigham young 9 1 saying if you come quick louwill you will find flud me at st sia sla george J barted early next morning on the joilene journey y leading itile in t direction across the h i e vast Ue gerts oserthe over the wintry ditl divides d as and arid ahr through ugh canons of bouth ern afati asee ouid orid ap apprised ad 1 me nig lon ion the way wiy that the P president il lat int would leave leate BK st gaorge for iw t 16 north T could there ere cedar 1 city the remote little mormon s settlement et clement froni which this thia better Is written as appointed 1 1 as jhb place piece of here at the foot afim enormous lilt look luj luk iq westward across a demolat plain toward he 0 acena scene of the mountain meadow and of J 3 ohn U D bield la 6 execution 1 hval welcomed this mornin morning ir at the home or bf the mormon llis ilis bishop jeweh ry luit lunt late in ahe afternoon pe idelt brigham and his hla E party la a train offlie of alye five carrl cairl aea aes by vy four aluies or J also alo drew draw tua iua u at the tha risho Bishops nume rume aumeno horne borne evening ansbe descended lights shot through the fram from tile the broad biba thin an and d I 1 a sup on aupper p supper was spread inthe in the dining room amid sounds bounds of jollity and cheer shortly before eight hav ing returned froma tromm A long iong valk T J entered the house anu was introduced to john W young who prepared the way why for my audience with hid bid father tho the pre aidea crossing the hall he led me into futo a lar large geer geor er grand room roum beaming with light from logs of pine and cedar and containing bonta ining a 8 small smail and distinguished company Ne arthe walls bat eat or stood several mormon elders of tais this and neighboring districts in front of them two or three bishops were seated grouped around the centre table were sever several alof of the most elevated dignitaries among the latter day priesthood john W young first counsellor of the president took a seat with his back to the nire fire looking as ll 11 handsome as wise and amiable aa as he be is really known to be brigham wab waa not present being coni fined to his bed by luness i i right of john W young g sa sat t pau dau daniel iel lel H wells vical vica president ident his great head iron gray hair bair andt and beard and reso resolute lute luty features making a pio plo picture ture oot oft themselves wells was wab one of the par earliest liest mormon emigrants across ithe plains fromi nauvoo narvoo adi ardi adl bas has bince lieen been among the strongest defenders of the latter day faith he poh banded mand edthe the tho mormon army which checked the advance of johnsons johnso in 1857 K 8 opposite wells lounged in his hiji overcoat j and at b his s accustomed tieke easer george Q cannon I 1 T first arst a n apostle of the church and le legate of the berd tory to washington hia face glowed with a benevolent exare bion sion and hla hia tua jua mantler riber showed all that politeness which is natural to him in th furthest corner and in shadow however sat tho tho the ni most ostrom coln lma lua persan in tag the room brigham young never lo 10 looked aked more like the patriarch that his hii to call cill hig him than he did on this occasion his bis tall broad form forni vas was enveloped from to a roue role or cape of dark cloth cioth gen gon generously romily edged with fur a silpa glimpse bf theirld the red lining of i from aiom b conier confer turned up avei over his s shoe hot he wone wore a hat 01 pe peculiar culla ir hape shape yet not ungto bia bib hia I 1 ar ta denote his dignity under ills his pale and plea baht milt face yas revealed a spotless cra ora cravata Tata yata huge hugo silver fox which which ilare flared diwa away from ili bis his s 1 throat t I 1 and ba ck behind his head P iet bet nely finely my reception in the grand room wa wasi wati graceful and hild hearty and after I 1 had been introduced ais ass a mr vhf who represent I 1 was placed in tho the vacant eat geat at the tee centre table tabla the following t conversation then I 1 finx I 1 p Is t I 1 in wr nearly three jand rin d a wf hours I 1 opened it by js a a as I 1 cotil dhe alls 1116 cite cito i ment in n the ealand eafen and west daus dius caused by re recent chit development fil lu iii A to the mountain Moun Woun tain taini meadows massacre 1 am ski sik brel brei and tufe the strong trong disposition d evin cef in some bome u arter ta responsibility on young 1 I ins instanced 1 especially lebs leos leals testis george A smith t f tane ne ot the twelve apostles at that time whom nee tee asserts went forward bard ahead of or the arkansas as emi enil ent jerant coln colu company pany preaching against tham and and stirring up lii the feel ings jugs of tho the people against them f s until the irme irmo time was ripe for their destruction brigham young george A smith visited this whole southern region regularly and held meetings as we are doing now in jen fact he was the founder of parowan carowan the ficat settlement to the north on his way home northward chis this was waa vias the year of the massacre they ney hey met the company of the arkansas erdl erAl emigrants grants not far frow from fillmore it was at meadow creek I 1 believe some bome of the tire emigrant company caneup came up to him and passed some Te marks remarks inquiring about the roads ac brother george A smith gave them thom all the desired information some of the cattle belonging to the company died they poisoned and land from the direct eit ecat 4 of the poisoned meat some of the indians who found and consumed be the carcases died these carcases also polio poisoned ned some springs this thib raised the wrath of th thu the indians here president young turned to daniel H welli his bis second coun saying baying brother wells do you remember if brother george A was down here at that hat time for fon au any auy y thing I 1 dd doimer JI ff welta wella no sir air he was not DOL ahe waa was preaching juthe n the thu settlements tle ments between here and salt lake ag arf we usually do he lre had part of his family living in paro wan having built a residence there I 1 and his being here was wag only one of several visits brigham young brother gearge A smiths smitha testimony mony monk in regard to this is published to the world wohld and believe it to be true trus it can ban be found among howard reports George ASmith that company or about their being interfered with th than an you did in new kew york had ho ho possessed that knowledge I 1 would certainly have heard of it for he would have boid bold oid old me of it he knew nothing labout about the company until he met them on hia hla return north near fillmore fill more there wasat was way at that time no telegraph 0 line running kunning down here berei no mails mol s were carried to utah th the e united states government had topped toppled the malls mails aud arid wa we bad no hicls from settlement to settlement meni menu arwe as we have abw correspondent the conviction la settled in the east especially by the testimony on the leo lee trial that there was some powerful direction ortho lot jot the part taken taker by the whites in the massacre this conviction ia Is strengthened by the statements in judge delbaugh Cra A speech frigham ham you q there theta ia Is no doubt that the affair was directed by john job rl jlee D lee und and he evidently was wasa a whito white man foor inbred r ible ibie to outsiders lee would have und undertaken fi 9 task libb that on hison responsibility the responsibility lity attaches in their opinion to the mormon church even everl to its highest individual officers brigham young joung hy ary disposition lis is such that had I 1 known anything about it I 1 would have gone to 10 that i came camp and fought the indians a and nd whito white men who took part in the perpetration of the massacre to the death rather than such a d deed eed should have been committed J IV young johh D lee le in his testimony monys says saya he 14 informed formed president young of the affair when he fie visited salt lake city I 1 happened to be present when he came in fathers office abidi and I 1 was present during the interview inte he commenced to relate the circumstances Q of the indians killing the emi emt giants grants but did not litti intimate mate mato a single word about the whites taking part 16 i the the killing when he commenced to sp speak eak of bf the manner of the deed father stopped him saying that the rumor rumon which h had already reached him was so horr horrifying fy that he could not bear to hear a recital of it brigham young 1 never knew the real facts of this affair until within the last few years I 1 myself proposed to governor cum ining who came here soon after the tue massacre to render him and judge rudge cradlebaugh every assistance in huntin hunting up lap the permetra torstad ors ayad aTad bring bringing rig them to justice and if mr cradlebaugh knows anything about this affair lie he must know that to be true that proposition was made in the spring of 1856 daniel IT beus chefe there are plenty of witnesses totham to that for I 1 heard him fakolt make it in public correspondent what of your own experience as governor and ex officio indian agent at the time brigham young governor cu m I 1 min mins s took it away from me this thir point too mrm wu diff riff inU inh to reach from salt lake and besides according to the rumors that reached us the people thought themselves that they would do well if they escaped the vengeance of the united states broo troops p T the burden of these rumors was that the mormons cormons were to be massacred correspondent to what do you ascribe the massacre brigham young if you were to inquire of the people who live hereabouts lu and lived in the country at that time you would find it it should be according to what I 1 have heard that some of this arkansas company boasted that they had had the promise from the United states that the mormons cormons were to be used up by the troops and that they had boasted too of having helped to kill hyrum and joseph smith and the mormons cormons in missouri and that they never meant to leave the territory until similar scenes were enacted here this if it true may have embittered the feelings of these who took part in the massacre and the probabilities are that lee and his contreres confreres con freres tock advantage of facts and the disturbed state of the country to accomplish their desires for plunder which under other circumstance circumstances would not have been gratified correspondent have yeu an opinion of Klingen smiths testimony 0 dy brigham brig ham bam young I 1 do not know anything about it correspondent how was it that lee was at la stand not at fir first at convicted byln byla by a mormon jury brigham young the supposition is that there was not evidence enough against him at the forst first that there was sufficient evidence against him at the last trial and that the tho people of utah could not obtain justice with any other jury correspondent considering that your people believe thay they get their inspiration through you do they not consider themselves response I 1 i ble to you for their acts what excuses them for crime brigham young what causes me to steal or commit any sin do I 1 prompt them no but the devil and his agents do all evil doing is to our covenants and obligations to th god and to one another as members of the church correspondent corres do you believe in blood atonement belleve brigham young I 1 do and aud I 1 bet believe that lee leo has not half atoned for his great crime the saviour died for all the sins of the world by shedding his bloode and then I 1 believe that he who sheds the tho blood of man mail wilfully by man matl shall his blood be shed in other words capital punishment for offenses deserving death according to tle the tie laws of the land and we believe elleve b the execution should be done by the shedding of blood instead of by hano hane hanging g if the murderers of joseph smith were to come to me now giving themselves up I 1 would not feel justified in taking their lives livies but 1 would feel justified j in having them ta taken ken uen to lili iiii illinois nois and there tried for murder correspondent recurring to the mountain meadows massacre you are arc satisfied that lee could not have receive dany previous intimation from froin the north as to what might be done in the case ease of tile the arkansas company who vere were coming down from salt lake brigham young none nond that I 1 have any ady knowledge of and certainly none from me roe correspondent vou you did not g give ive iva 1 any direction whatever as to the disposition of the emigrants effect brigham young I 1 knew no more about them thui than you nor do I 1 today to day I 1 have heard that they have been made use of which I 1 suppose is correct i tb who waga wasa was a mormon and an acting bishop 1 I suppose shared in the spoils and because he held such a position tiu tin it ie is believed that the church used it IL cop Cot correspondent respondent was he the church brigham young no he was only a poor miserable sinner correspondent cotte corre in this southern southern country do the bishops exercise the functions of justices of the peace I 1 I 1 i br brigham ig ham young I 1 do not know that any of them do and if any do it is not because they are bishops but because they are elected justices according to the tho laws of the land 1 0 correspondent T tho he mountain hiou meadows dows massacre was go ao unique that many curious questions are asked in regard to it for instance why were tho the indians indiana angry against the arkansas emigrants olat other emigrant parties were passing through the country and were not molested brigham young As I 1 understand it for poisoning the water and poisoning dead cattle which gome bome some of the indians afterwards ate of and died I 1 would however refer you to the settlers of crow and meadow creeks who lived there at the time correspondent Is it true that george A smith advised the people not to fell their grain B bigham brigham young we have been scarce searce of bread breadstuffs stuffs and the nature of his hia counsel was not to use their grain krain animals neither to sell seil it to emigrants for that purpose but no such word was ever uttered by him not to sell bell it for breadstuff we have always made a practice of selling wheat and flour to the emigrants for food ever since we came camer here and I 1 will say that I 1 am at the defiance of the world to prove that the heads of the church had anything to do with the mountain meadows rna ina massacre correspondent with regard to haight and higbee have you anything to say as to their thein reasons for getting out of the country brigham yours no sir air I 1 presume however they are trying to evade the law correspondent you do not con eader yourself in the least degree responsible for them brigham young no sir air not any more mure than mr gee jercher Je echer chef or pr any man of your city is correspondent it Is understood at the east that the mormon church is a structure far more closely cemented than this would imply an exclusive organization standing in the midst of the continent and governed from the head downward by a system which renders its leaders peculiarly responsible for the people over whom they preside brigham young it if the people over whom I 1 preside do as I 1 tell them to do there never would be such occurrences but if a member of our church lies heats steals or kills his neighbor brigham young is not responsible for his bis evil acts any more than if a catholic were to hill the pope of rome nome would be responsible for his cri crime me E am arm responsible eble ible only for the |
